• Question: What do you love most about your job

    Asked by Lucyscienceclassobligator to Ned, Niamh, Laurence, Colin, Aisling on 1 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by Maria&Eva, 673spce28.
    • Photo: Aisling Shannon

      Aisling Shannon answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      I enjoy lots of different parts, solving problems with colleagues from across Europe or doing testing of spacecraft, making sure that the test is just right. If the test was too much, you risk breaking very expensive equipment. If it is not enough, then we will not know for sure that it will be ok for the launch. The test is supposed to mimic certain parts of the launch, so that we are confident that when we launch, the whole spacecraft won’t be shaken to pieces! It’s a real sense of achievement when you have a successful test 🙂

    • Photo: Ned Dwyer

      Ned Dwyer answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      I love meeting people that are passionate about finding out more about the ocean. They design equipment to measure the temperature of the ocean in differnt places , the thickness of the ice, find what lives on the sea floor and lots of other exciting things. I am always learning new things from these people and the research they carry out. It is great to be a small part of such an enthusistic community of researchers.

    • Photo: Colin Shirran

      Colin Shirran answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      I love having the opportunity to work with incredibly interesting and challenging projects on the forefront of space exploration. While some the daily work can be mundane office work, your never short of inspiration to keep it interesting if you are obsessed with Space like me! It’s even given me the opportunity to take part in something like this. It’s great to give back and help future engineers get the information and inspiration they need to go down this road.

    • Photo: Laurence O'Rourke

      Laurence O'Rourke answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      I love the challenge and variety I get every day when I come into work. The tasks I do during the day continuously vary and this makes my job difficult (because I have to jump around doing different things) but interesting because I’m not stuck on one specific topic all the time.

      What I love the most about my job though is that sometimes once a year or so, I get the opportunity to do something which is amazing. In 2014, it was to help put Philae on the comet. Last year, it was getting to watch a comet wakeup and produce lots of explosions on its surface when it got close to the sun. This year, in September we land on the surface with the Rosetta this time. I try to ensure that at least once a year there is something that I will always remember; I don’t just pick one thing, I pick many so that only one needs to come through in order to have that amazing feeling of accomplishment.

Comments